CES 2022 Highlights: Home is Where EVERYTHING is

The Great Home Makeover ContinuesThe definition of home has evolved and expanded since the onset of the pandemic nearly two years ago For years we watched home buyers on TV shows like HGTV39s quotHouse Huntersquot proclaim they wanted quotopenconceptquot The demand for shared family living spaces left us unprepared for the reality of our current circumstances where work school exercise workouts and more occur within the confines of the same space The most immediate beneficiary of our new reality has been the consumer electronics industry as consumers sought tech solutions to make up for the lack of separate rooms The category saw huge sales demand in 2021 that is anticipated to continue in 2022According to the CTA three key trends were at the forefront last yearConsumers quotleveled upquot their technology amp8211 many used this time to make their lives easier Sales increased for everything quotSmartquot from TVs and appliances to light bulbs and doorbellsAnd they sought out Premium Brands amp8211 given the choice consumers opted for the best experience Premium brand sales outperformed sales of quotaveragequot brandsServices soared amp8211 consumers are subscribing and sticking with new services On average consumers subscribe to 8 services eg streaming video audio fitness and gamingOverall consumers have used their discretionary funds accumulated during lockdown to improve their digital lifestyles They are opting for enhanced home theater components because they can rationalize the importance of better equipment be it a new use case like meetings for remote work or just getting more value out of their new streaming subscriptionsWhat about the TVs at CES As is the case every year they are bigger brighter thinner lighter and all the other superlatives you can possibly think of OLED QDOLED miniLED 4K 8K amp8211 they are all beautiful they all look good and there is a screen for every budget Tech sites like CNET or The Verge offer great guidance to help you chooseSmart Home Smart Gadgets Aiding consumers to continue spending are plenty of new smart home gadgets Rather than rehash the various new smart doorbells security products or light bulbs that closely replicate existing products you are likely familiar with here are a few home items that are truly new or have new features worth a lookMoen Smart Faucet with Motion Control amp8211 touchless smart faucets are not new but the innovation to this faucet is the motion control part Swiping right or left gives you cold or hot water swiping down provides warm Mobile app controls enable you to personalize the temperature for quotwarmquot Voice commands powered by Alexa can allow you to instruct the Moen faucet to do specific tasks like precisely filling a measured cup of waterSamsung Family Hub Fridge amp8211 the refrigerator with a tablet screen on the door has been around for a few years now and continues to receive enhanced new tech like an upgraded internal camera that can scan food labels But the interesting news here is more aesthetic than tech with its inclusion as part of Samsung39s Bespoke appliance line now you can have your advanced smart fridge while choosing from 12 colors decidedly nontraditional ones like pink green or orange and glass or metallic finishesGAF Energy Timberline Solar amp8211 solar roofing panels that install like roof shingles with a nail gun Yes and at about the same cost but much nicer looking than rackmounted solar panelsSamsung Freestyle amp8211 this LED projector is lightweight and portable with a 180degree cradle stand that will let you project video anywhere indoors and out and on anything walls screens ceilings or the sides of a house With an image size that can expand from 30 to 100 inches and 360degree sound this is the perfect entertainment solution for sharing a movie with your favorite crowd outdoors and socially distancedWhat is the Matter with Smart Homes A key challenge for wouldbe consumers of Smart Home technology is that many devices currently exist in walled garden eco systems that are not interoperable You must first decide if you want to be part of the Amazon Apple or GoogleNest platform and then shop from among whatever products work within them What if you could simply choose the best smart device be it a doorbell thermostat or lightbulb and have complete confidence that it will work in your home That is the goal of Matter a new standard connectivity protocolMatter promises to remove interoperability considerations from the equation It is an opensourced connectivity technology standard for the smart home created by over 200 companies including the above platforms The promise of Matter is to enable all smart devices to talk to each other All products that are Matter certified will work within your Smart Home regardless of who made them The first Matter certified products will be shipping in 2022 and hopefully this will be the start of Smart Homes becoming truly smartDigital Brings Health and Wellness HomeDigital Health and Wellness is arguably becoming a natural extension the Smart Home Health and technology are more tightly linked than ever before COVID has accelerated the use of technology such as telemedicine that is likely to become a more routine alternative option to inperson doctor visits Devices that collect data and enable healthcare practitioners to remotely monitor patients are a logical companion to thisAbbott Laboratories and biometrics wearables amp8211 The Abbott Laboratories keynote set the tone for the role of technology in healthcare Actor Laurence Fishburne in a video clip shared Abbott39s beliefs quotAt this moment in time technology is changing faster than ever before People are living longer than ever before And we are using technology to ensure that those longer lives are used to the fullestquotHere are some examples that were spotlightedFreeStyle Libre 3 amp8211 Abbott39s Freestyle Libre is an integrated continuous glucose monitoring system that lets people with diabetes easily maintain their glucose levels without fingersticks This latest iteration is smaller thinner and lighter while maintaining the same high level of accuracyLingo amp8211 Abbott announced a new full line of biowearables that uses the same type of sensor monitoring technology as FreeStyle Libre The portfolio of products is fitness and nutritionfocused intended to help consumers learn their own bodies unique language hence the name Lingo The areas of monitoring include Glucose Keytones Lactose and AlcoholNavica amp8211 this complimentary app comes with the BinaxNow COVID Rapid Test kit The Navica app was developed in partnership with United Airlines and eMed There is a link in United39s Travel Ready Center on Unitedcom and the United app that enables international travel customers to order the right test to be packed in their carryon for conveniently testing and clearance for return to the US The test results are shared and stored in the Navica appHere are a few other intriguing health and wellness tech examplesLabrador Retriever amp8211 like the dog breed it is named after this new type of personal robot will retrieve and transport items It is essentially a mobile selfdriving shelf that can navigate your living space like a robot vacuum controlled by voice andor an app It is intended to enable individuals with pain andor health conditions live more independently by providing physical assistance with everyday tasks like transporting a laundry basket medications or tray of foodWithings Body Scan amp8211 the company that invented the smart scale category back in 2009 unveiled its newest offering The Body Scan that can track much more than weight It features a retractable handle fitted with additional sensors that along with those in the scale measure nerve activity heart rhythm and other body measurements like fat and water percentage Readings can be stored and shared with medical professionals and they are seeking FDA clearance for the deviceSengled Smart Health Monitoring Bulb amp8211 a light bulb with built in health monitoring technology uses radar to track your sleep heart rate body temperature and other biometric measurementsEssence CareHome amp8211 with a growing population of elderly adults that desire to remain independent and age in place there is growing demand for health tools and services that can enable this and provide peace of mind for their loved ones Essence seeks to be your eyes and ears to accomplish this The Essence CareHome system offers comprehensive remote patient monitoring including for those with chronic conditionsInvoxia Smart Dog Collar amp8211 and because health and wellness are not just for humans Fido gets his own smart device This smart collar tracks biometrics to provide an overview of your dog39s health vitals activity levels sleep quality and GPS location Dog parents can keep a watchful eye over all this via a mobile appAnd on that note let39s call CES 2022 a wrap Despite all the great tech that enables virtual attendance here39s hoping for a shot at seeing next years39 edition live and inpersonThis article was written by Robert Acquaotta SVP Integrated Media Active InternationalPhoto courtesy of Active InternationalClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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